


Aquatica!

by mage_girl



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-09
Updated: 2012-06-09
Packaged: 2017-11-07 09:22:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/429415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mage_girl/pseuds/mage_girl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When young Rose Weasley pays a visit to Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, it's just the usual day of 'Iron Chef' marathons and biscuits. Or is it? Draco and Harry should know better.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Aquatica!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [saras_girl](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=saras_girl).



It started out as a normal day. Harry had plans to get some groceries, possibly slogging through a backlog of paperwork. Those sort of normal day activities. He was not planning on sitting in a large bucket next to Draco Malfoy. Sporting whiskers. And fins. Wait, perhaps going to the beginning would be helpful...

‘Potter! Don’t forget to pick up some tea and some biscuits. We’re out of the chocolate biscuits that you brought into the house and I was obliged to eat!’ yelled Draco.  
Harry rolled his eyes and pinched his nose tight with his fingers. Draco was on a tear again and Harry wasn’t up for the ‘master/servant’ routine.  
‘I’m not your bloody servant, Draco!’ he yelled back, frustration in his voice. He and Draco were getting along and on better terms. After all, they had been partners now for a few years but there were days when he was being driven around the twist by the man.   
There was the sound of footsteps and Draco appeared at the top of the landing, peering down at Harry with a most peeved expression on his face. ‘I didn’t say you were! I merely made a request to pick up tea and biscuits. We’re out of the good tea that I make for us and it wasn’t my fault you had brought in biscuits with chocolate in them.’ Draco sniffed, looking put out. ‘You should know that chocolate is an every day necessity for me.’  
Harry’s mouth quirked into a reluctant smile at one corner. It wasn’t like Draco to normally admit a weakness he had; he must have really liked the biscuits that Harry found at the store. Harry wouldn’t know what they tasted like. Once Draco got a hold of them, he’d stashed them away and wouldn’t tell Harry where he’d put them. Every now and then, he’d reappear from somewhere with tell tale smears of chocolate at the corners of his mouth and one memorable time, on the tip of his nose. Harry tweaked Draco for days about that incident.  
‘Yes, Draco...you aren’t any fun to live with if you don’t have chocolate in the house,’ said Harry.  
He looked at his watch. ‘I better run and get some, then. Rose is coming over today and you know how she loves to watch those trashy reality shows with you. You’re both going to need some chocolate biscuits to get you through,’ he teased.  
Draco’s cheeks turned pink but his voice had its usual drawl when he said, ‘Best get going, then. Remember, tea and biscuits. We are going to watch a marathon of “Iron Chef” and we need our food, else we’ll get testy from lack of snacks.’  
Harry laughed, bad temper forgotten. He enjoyed watching Rose’s reaction as she saw the different ingredients the chefs had to use to make dishes. Draco would turn to him and say, ‘Do they really have that available in the muggle world, Potter?’ and Harry would enjoy the stunned expression on Draco’s face when he’d take him to a market where said ingredients were available.   
The door roared and a giggle sounded from outside. Harry went to answer the door and found the lion’s head door knocker scowling at the young girl standing outside.  
‘Did you pull his mane again?’ asked Harry, hands on his hips.  
Rose giggled. ‘I didn’t mean to pull THAT hard. I wanted to tug just a little.’  
Hermione sighed. ‘I’m sorry. I got distracted for a moment and Rose reached up and tugged his whiskers, actually.’ She had Hugo in her arms and was preventing him from reaching out to the lion and snake doorknocker, himself. Hugo babbled happily as he saw Harry, his mouth stretched out into a big grin. Harry laughed and blew a raspberry at Hugo who was further delighted by this new entertainment.  
Harry turned to look at the lion head door knocker. He noticed that the entwined serpent was smirking at the lion, its tongue flickering out mockingly. Harry stroked the lion’s mane, gently brushing the whiskers with his fingertips. The scowl turned into a rumbling purr. ‘Better, then?’ he asked the lion head, smiling as its eyes closed briefly. Its eyes opened again and it stared balefully at Rose.  
Rose ducked her head. ‘I’m sorry, Mr. Lion. I didn’t mean to hurt you.’ She reached up and gently stroked its ear.  
Its glare changed to a twinkle in its yellow topaz eyes and it nipped playfully at her fingers. Rose squealed happily and snatched her fingers away, rocking back and forth on her heels.  
Hermione laughed. ‘I’ll come back after supper, then? I take it there is a marathon of “Iron Chef” all afternoon,’ she said.   
‘Yes. Draco has been waiting impatiently for Rose to get here so they can get set up,’said Harry with a grin.  
‘May I go find Draco, Harry?’ asked Rose.  
Harry smiled down at her, still struck by how much of Ron and Hermione were evident in her features. She had her mother’s curly hair but it was a medium reddish-brown. Her eyes were large and brown but she also had a sprinkling of freckles across her nose and cheeks. Her brashness was only matched by her precociousness. Harry could see so much of Hermione’s brilliance already shining in her thoughts that she articulated aloud.  
‘Sure! I’ll just make final arrangements with your mum. Go on, then,’ he told her. Rose smiled up at him, turned and kissed Hermione, then ran into the house.  
Hermione sighed and shifted Hugo in her arms. He laughed and reached for Harry.   
Harry took him, holding Hugo up with one arm over his hip. ‘He’s getting pretty big,’ he observed, adjusting his hold so that Hugo would feel more secure.  
‘Just had a doctor’s visit and he weighs over 13 kilograms now. No wonder my arms are tired at the end of the day,’ said Hermione ruefully, rubbing her upper arms.  
‘He’s a healthy boy. I imagine Molly is thrilled that he’s healthy and strong,’ said Harry.  
‘Yes. She enjoys Sundays with him and Rose and I enjoy a good nap,’ said Hermione.  
They chuckled together and then Harry said, ‘Does seven sound ok? I don’t want it to be too late.’  
‘That’s fine. We’ll get her home for a bath and tucked into bed by 8. It’s always a special treat for her to spend time with you and Draco,’ said Hermione.  
‘We like having her here,’ said Harry in return. ‘Feel free to use the floo. You don’t have to drive over here.’   
‘It’s easier for me. To drive both of them,’ she said. ‘But if it’s Rose and I, we usually floo. Besides, she wanted to say hi to your lion.’ Hermione reached over and stroked the lion’s mane and gently touched the scales on the snake’s back. A purr and a satisfied hiss came from each animal.  
‘I thought so. OK, then. We’ll see you at seven. Have a nice rest of the day.’ Harry kissed Hugo on the top of his head, ruffled his golden-red curls, and handed him back to Hermione. He kissed her cheek and walked her to the car waiting at the kerb. He helped Hugo get fastened into his seat and then waved as Hermione and him drove away.  
He went back up the steps and into the house. ‘Keep an eye out, gentlemen,’ he told the doorknockers. A muted roar and hiss met his words and he smiled as he walked down the hallway towards the living room.  
In the living room, Draco and Rose were ensconced on the big leather couch, a plate of cookies on hand and two glasses of lemonade were on coasters in front of them, on the coffee table. They both had smears of chocolate on their faces. Harry wished he could take a picture right then and there.  
Draco looked up at him and smiled. Harry loved it when Draco smiled like this. No snark, no smirk, just an out and out glow of happiness and contentment. He’d never thought he’d see that on Draco’s face after the War and when things were pretty bad for a while. He knew that befriending Rose and in the process, making amends with Hermione, Ron, and the entire Weasley clan went a long way towards the core of Draco’s peace. He even came over for the monthly Weasley Get Together, bringing over wine or dessert, something to complement Molly’s cooking. Sometimes Harry thought that Molly almost favoured Draco over him, especially after Draco had gifted Molly with a set of rare spices she’d always coveted.  
Rose looked up at Harry and grinned. She had chocolate smeared not only on her face but also her shirt and a bit on her jeans. She was the very picture of bliss.  
‘Has the show started yet?’ asked Harry, looking over at the big screen TV. When he’d first brought it into the house, Draco was in turns appalled and curious. It was all muggle made and Draco was a little uncomfortable with having something so huge in the house. Until he watched his first reality show and then he was hooked.   
Draco sighed. ‘Not yet. They’ve some commercials on first and we decided to get   
some snacks together.’  
Harry chuckled and reached over, wiping some chocolate off of the corner of Draco’s mouth. ‘I can see that.’   
The familiar theme music of “Iron Chef” began and Draco’s attention turned towards the television. ‘Here we go, Rose! A whole afternoon’s worth of shows!’ Rose wiggled in excitement and snuggled closer to Draco. Harry’s heart clenched to see Draco put an arm around her shoulder and smile down at her. Yes, life was much better now.

A couple hours had gone by. Harry had retreated to the office where he sat and scratched out some overdue paperwork and sent a couple of owls out with grim satisfaction. He didn’t mind the outdoor work of being an Auror. He didn’t even mind the fact that Kingsley was steering him onto the Head Auror track. He liked the work he did and he was good at it. What he minded was the bloody paperwork. He never dreamed there would be so much paperwork. And Ron, as his partner, hated doing it as well. They would bicker over who wrote the last presentation and who turned in the month’s expense report and who would have to walk down to the file room and give a sheaf of paper to the sour faced secretary there.  
This time, it was Harry’s turn to turn in about two months’ worth of backlogged paperwork. He looked at the pile remaining on his desk and groaned. Every time this happened, he’d swear he’d never let it get this bad and every time, he ended up with stacks of paper all over. Hermione’s office looked sane compared to his at times and that was saying something.   
He decided he earned a break, so he wandered back downstairs towards the living room. The sounds of cooking could be heard and Rose’s excited commentary. Harry smiled as he went into the kitchen. He thought that the lemonade might need refilling by now and perhaps some small sandwiches would do the trick as well. He made up some small sandwiches that he knew Draco and Rose liked. He added some crisps and then, because he was a wise man, some more of the biscuits he’d bought that morning. All of this went on a large plate and after he’d mixed more lemonade together in the pitcher that was, indeed, almost empty, he walked carefully into the living room with his offerings.  
Draco smiled up at him when he saw the enormous plate filled with food. He leaned forward to kiss Harry gently on the mouth. ‘Why, you’re worth something after all, Potter,’ he teased as he cleared a space on the coffee table. Rose laughed as she picked up a small sandwich.   
‘Thank you, Harry,’ she said, smiling at him as well.  
Harry grinned at them both. ‘You’re very welcome. I thought it was time for a snack or two. How are the shows going, then?’  
‘The last show, they had to use jellyfish!’ exclaimed Rose. ‘They made this one dish and it was really awful. I could tell because the people were making faces when they tried it. The chef was really embarrassed.’  
‘Jellyfish, eh?’ Harry shuddered. ‘Can’t say I’m a fan of jellyfish. It had better be a really good dish or I’m not interested.’  
‘I like seafood,’ said Rose. ‘Shrimp is good. And crab. And I like fish and chips.’  
‘Everyone likes fish and chips,’ said Harry. ‘Even Draco.’ He slanted a teasing glance Draco’s way and was amused to find Draco rolling his eyes at him.   
‘Yes, Potter. Even me. As plebian as that is. Now, shoo. The next show is about to start and we don’t want to miss a thing.’  
Harry snagged a couple of biscuits over Draco’s ‘hey!’ and left the room, smiling as Rose squealed in excitement as the next show began.

A couple more hours later, and the desktop was clear of papers. The owl treats were significantly depleted as Harry sent out a record number of owls to deliver past due reports to various places. This was OK. At least it was off the desk and he wouldn’t have Kingsley looming over him Monday morning like a great horned owl deprived of sleep and looking as such as well.  
Harry wasn’t particularly fond of Kingsley’s ‘Great (crabby) Horned owl’ face because it boded ill for whomever Kingsley was looming over. He snickered softly as he remembered Ron’s face the first time Kingsley glared at him malevolently. Ron’s ‘bloody hell, Kingsley!’ and Kingsley’s roar of disapproval and Ron’s subsequent look of terror almost had Harry disgracing himself in his pants. As it was, he’d just managed to pull it together and had handed Kingsley the paperwork he was ranting about. Ron had bought him lunch that day and a couple of pints after work as well in gratitude.  
So no Horned Owl Kingsley on Monday. That was good. Harry glanced at the clock on the wall. Draco had laughed at him when he’d put the clock up in the first place. ‘Heard of a wand and a spell, Potter?’ he mocked but Harry had caught Draco checking the time on more than one occasion and was justified in saying, ‘What? Forgot the name of the spell, did you?’ and then moving swiftly to avoid the stinging hex he knew would be coming from Draco’s wand.  
It was 4 pm. Harry figured that if he brought out another snack, it would do for supper and Rose would be delighted. Hermione knew that Rose would snack all day long with Harry and Draco and that Harry made a reasonable attempt to make sure the snacks would fill her tummy and be nutritional. Harry figured that if he included carrot sticks with the biscuits along with some of Molly’s homemade soup, he ought to be off the hook.  
Harry warmed up the soup on the stove, then poured it into three bowls. It smelled heavenly; it was Molly’s beef and vegetable soup and Harry could see bits of beef as well as thick chewy noodles in the broth. He cut up some bread and spread butter over them. He set each bowl on a plate along with bread slices and carrot sticks and biscuits. Then, he waved his wand and everything rose into the air in front of him. It gave him the freedom to carry the half empty lemonade pitcher along with a glass for himself into the living room.  
The soup was delicious. Harry ate everything in the bowl and took his bread and swiped it around the bowl, just to make sure he didn’t miss anything. Between that and the carrot sticks and the biscuits, he was comfortably full. Draco had eaten everything on his plate as well and was sitting back with a look of contentment on his face. Rose was nibbling on the last carrot stick but otherwise, her soup was finished and she looked as happy as Harry felt.  
Draco picked up his wand. ‘I’ll just send these to the kitchen for now,’ he said.   
Rose said, ‘Can I help?’  
‘I’ve got it, Rose. Besides, how do you know this spell?’  
‘Mum taught it to me. She held the wand and let me say the words. I brought the dishes to the kitchen last night after supper. Dad was proud of me. Said that I was going to do well at Hogwarts.’  
‘Yes, you are, Rose. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt for you to help out, then,’ said Draco. He held the wand over the dishes and Rose put her hand over his.  
Harry smiled benevolently at Rose as she began the words and then...

‘What the....??’ Harry felt strange. He felt...smaller. And lighter. Something was wrong.  
He opened his eyes and looked around. Wait a minute. This wasn’t the living room. And he wasn’t standing. He was...where was he?  
He was in what was a container of some sort. He wasn’t sure but it could be a bucket. A bucket full of water. What was he doing in a bucket full of water? And why did he fit in a bucket full of water? And what was *that* next to him, breathing fast, gills fluttering in and out as rapidly as they could? What was a fish doing here beside him?  
Wait a minute.  
Harry glanced up and saw his reflection in the water and got the shock of his life.  
He was a fish, too. A...something brushed the side of his mouth and he looked down to see whiskers. The other fish had whiskers as well. The other fish was, Harry assumed, a catfish. Well, possibly a catfish. Harry wasn’t sure but he thought the whiskers might be a dead giveaway. Then again, a lot of fish had whiskers. He’d just say they were catfish because the situation was already mad enough. He didn’t have to try and be a, well, fishologist for lack of the right word. And there was that other fish in the water with him. A catfish with grey bulbous eyes that were wide as he stared at Harry.  
‘Draco?’ whispered Harry.  
The fish’s whiskers quivered in outrage. ‘Who else do you think it would be, Potter?’  
‘Oh for...what happened?’ asked Harry.  
‘I believe something went wrong and we have been turned into Silurus glanis.’ Draco glanced up at his reflection in the water and shuddered.  
‘What?’ asked Harry, bewildered.  
‘Oh, I forget, your lack of education shows at the most inconvenient times. We are european catfish, Potter. Otherwise known as Wels catfish. Thankfully, we’re smaller than the usual sized catfish or we’d never fit together in this bucket,’ muttered Draco, splaying a fin against the side of the bucket.  
They were distracted by a noise above them and they looked up, their bodies turning slightly so their eyes could focus. There was another sniffle and then a distraught Rose gazed down at them through the water. Her eyes were red and her mouth quivered as she reached down to touch Harry.  
‘I’m so sorry!’ she wailed. ‘I don’t know what happened! This didn’t happen last night at all!’   
Harry tried to tell her it was Ok but only bubbles came up out of his mouth. ‘Damn it!’ he said.   
‘You can’t talk to her. It’s only going to come out as bubbles. This is a fine mess. Do you know what time Hermione was to pick her up?’ asked Draco.  
Harry sighed, bubbles trailing out of his mouth. ‘I said seven. I think it’s close to six now,’ he estimated. ‘I wish I could see the clock.’   
‘Move your fish body out of the way, and maybe I could try and see something,’ said Draco. He shoved against Harry, his whiskers brushing against Harry’s side.   
‘Stop that, Draco! It tickles!’ said Harry. ‘And be careful! I think you have barbs on your whiskers. Figures,’ he said under his breath.  
Draco deigned not to pay attention, instead pushing his head up above the water. He stayed there for a moment and then flopped back down, landing heavily on top of Harry.  
‘How many biscuits did you eat, anyway, Draco? You’re heavy!’ complained Harry.   
‘I am NOT! I am a very trim catfish, I’ll have you know, Potter. And my whiskers are magnificent.’   
Harry snorted, bubbles flowing. ‘Of course your whiskers are magnificent. Now if your Magnificence will get off of me, I could concentrate on trying to communicate with Rose.’  
Draco swished his tail in agitation. ‘And how do you think that will happen? She can’t read your mind. Nor can she hear you talk, although I can, more’s the pity.’  
Harry rolled his large eyes. As usual, Draco resorted to being his pithy self when faced with a situation he couldn’t control. Harry had seen this happen more times than he could count. He knew Draco was nervous and worried and even scared, though he wouldn’t admit it in a million years. It just all came out in snark and sarcasm and a snippy tone that would cut glass.  
‘Well, as we both know, Rose is a very smart girl. And Hermione has taught her not just magical knowledge but muggle knowledge as well. And I happen to know that she has been teaching Rose a way to communicate with flashlight if need be.’  
Draco would raise his eyebrows if he could but he had to settle for twitching his whiskers instead. ‘And what communication would that be?’ he asked.  
As much as a fish could smile, Harry did so. ‘Morse code.’

After a false start, Rose understood that the bubbles that Harry blew up towards the surface were in morse code. She giggled at first and then paid attention to what Harry was ‘telling’ her.  
She told Harry and Draco that when the spell went wrong and he and Draco were lying on the carpet in the living room, gasping, Rose had run into the kitchen and had filled the bucket she’d found by using Draco’s wand and saying, ‘Aquamenti!’ She had then run back and picked up Harry, and then Draco and put them into the bucket, hoping it wasn’t too late to save them. Harry and Draco had lost consciousness briefly but when they were in the water, it revived them. That had been when Harry had woke up to find things weren’t as they had been. Harry praised her quick thinking and then asked Rose to go ahead and use the floo powder to try and get Hermione and Ron’s attention so they could come and fix things. Rose had smiled for the first time since the accident happened and nodded her head. She could do that. She went to the fireplace and threw in some floo powder. When the green flames flared up, she stuck her head inside to call out parents’ names.   
While Rose was occupied with trying to get either of her parents’ attention, Draco had told Harry sharply that he’d better hold anything in that might be wanting to get out. He was already reeling from the fact that he was breathing in water. The fact that his body was in the water was bad enough but just thinking of either of them using the water for anything more than survival was beyond the pale. That was a horror that Draco didn’t want to be any part of and he had muttered to Harry that he had no intention of swimming in Harry’s own filth, let alone inhaling it. Harry had been so disgusted by the images from that statement that he had slapped his tail across Draco’s fish face. That started a brawl that involved fins, whiskers, and tails. The brawl ended when they almost turned over the bucket and had slopped half the water out onto the floor. Rose heard the commotion and had come running back to see what was going on. She found Draco and Harry laying at the bottom of their bucket, gills fluttering with exhaustion.   
Harry found himself to be particularly grateful that Ron hadn’t come through the fireplace and witnessed that spat. He wouldn’t have lived it down in a million years.  
Once Rose told Harry and Draco to be good, she went back to the fireplace and was able to get a hold of Hermione. Once she explained what happened, Hermione, Ron, and Hugo came through in a roar of green flames.  
Harry looked up to see Ron grinning down at him. He groaned. He wasn’t going to live this one down.  
Neither was Draco. Draco glared as menacingly as he could but the drooping whiskers on either side of his mouth and his bulbous grey eyes didn’t help much. He blew bubbles at Ron and flipped his tail at him, getting him wet.  
Hugo reached his hands into the water to touch Harry. ‘Harry? Fish!’ he crowed, stroking Harry’s side with pudgy fingers.   
Hermione patted Rose’s shoulder, helped her blow her nose and wipe away the last few tears, and then readied her wand. ‘I’ll have you out of there in no time. Rose accidentally substituted a word or two. She just needs more practice. Hold on,’ she told them.  
Harry bubbled his assent and waited as Hermione pointed her wand at him.

Before not too long, Harry was standing on his own two feet again, dripping water on the floor. He was grateful that when he was turned back into his human self, it was with his clothes on as well, although he was soaked through and through. That was just fine with him. He’d take having wet clothes over being naked as the day he was born once his body was the right form again. Draco had gone upstairs and had come back down with two towels, one of which he gave to Harry and the other which he used to dry his hair. Harry was momentarily distracted by the sight of Draco’s hair standing up on end, bristling like a porcupine. ‘First catfish, now porcupine hair. Draco must be going through an animal phase,’ thought Harry with a grin he hid from Draco.  
He picked up Rose and hugged her. ‘It’s OK, Rose. You didn’t mean to. And you did an excellent job with the morse code. Brilliant work!’   
Rose blushed and smiled at Harry. ‘I helped save you. I didn’t want you to stay a fish forever.’  
‘Neither did I, thank you very much. Thank you,’ Harry said to her. He set her down and Draco went down on his knees so he could be at her level.   
‘You did a smashing good job, Rose. You kept your head and you didn’t try to fry me for supper!’ he teased her, smiling. He ran his hand over the top of her head, gently stroking her hair. ‘Next time, we’ll make sure to say the words first before we use the wand.’  
Ron leaned over and picked up Rose in one arm, snuggling her to him. ‘Rose here has Hermione’s brains, I’ve always said,’ he said proudly, kissing her cheek. Rose giggled.  
‘Indeed,’ drawled Draco. ‘Thankfully, it wasn’t your brains or we’d still be swimming in our own...mess,’ he ended.  
Ron grinned. ‘Ah, at least we didn’t need to try and find you, Nemo,’ he deadpanned to Draco.  
Harry laughed-coughed as Draco’s look of puzzlement turned to wry amusement.  
Ron, Hermione, Rose, and Hugo bid their farewells and went through the fireplace again, the floo flaring to life around them. Harry and Draco waved goodbye to them as they went through. There was sudden silence in the room after the green flame went out.  
Draco ran a hand through his hair and grimaced. ‘It feels funny. I think it’s time for a shower,’ he announced, turning to go upstairs.   
Harry spent some time cleaning up the water on the floor and rinsing out the bucket and putting it back under the sink. Later that night, after his shower, and after he came to bed, Draco sighed as Harry put his arms around him. ‘What is it?’ asked Harry.  
‘Well, this is the oddest thing, Potter...but I have the sudden craving for seafood,’ he said.  
Harry nuzzled Draco’s neck, happy to find no whiskers in sight. He said, ‘Tomorrow. We’ll fill that fish tummy of yours then.’ And laughed as Draco huffed in pretend anger. 

Finis

**Author's Note:**

> As always, my everlasting thanks to aphrodite_mine for her fine beta read. 
> 
> This fic is for one of the best writers of Harry/Draco fanfic ever, the most wonderous saras_girl over on Live Journal. We were talking and she thought a fic with Harry and Draco as catfish would be adorable. I agreed and seeing as we're both fish enthusiasts, I thought this fic would be a perfect 'thank you' for hours of enjoyable reading of her fanfic. If you can, check out her writing...it's so very good! :)


End file.
